Some may wonder why our project includes the consideration of medieval thoughts and practices relating to the breath. What can studying them possibly offer modern medicine? In a special edition of the journal postmedieval two of our project team, Prof Corinne … Read more…
Dr Megan Wainwright is an international collaborator on the Life of Breath project. She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cape Town (Division of Social and Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health and Family Medicine), and an … Read more…
Cynicism is often associated with indifference and fatalism – traits which are undoubtedly undesirable among healthcare professionals. However, in this article the authors argue that ‘healthy’ cynicism can be a valuable trait – it can form part of a protective response by physicians … Read more…
Throughout 2016 our collaborator Jayne Wilton created unique and beautiful breath-inspired artworks to grace the cover of The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal. She used a variety of techniques including copper etching, photosensitive paper and glass blowing to capture both exhaled … Read more…
Life of Breath PI Havi Carel has contributed a chapter on phenomenology and hermeneutics to the Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Medicine (ed. Miriam Solomon, Jeremy Simon and Harold Kincaid).
Life of Breath PI Havi Carel explores epistemic injustice in psychiatry with Paul Crichton and Ian James Kidd in a new paper for the BJ Psych Bulletin.
Life of Breath PI Havi Carel‘s new book Phenomenology of Illness is now available. Havi argues that the experience of illness has been neglected by philosophers, and provides a distinctively philosophical account, exploring how illness modifies the ill person’s body, values, and world. … Read more…
Life of Breath PI Havi Carel, Ian James Kidd (University of Nottingham) and Richard Pettigrew (University of Bristol) have a paper entitled ‘Illness as transformative experience‘ in the most recent issue of the Lancet. They argue, among other things, that the transformative … Read more…
Durham team members Rebecca Oxley and Jane Macnaughton argue that, in order to treat breathlessness more effectively, we need a greater understanding of how it feels to be breathless and how this experience may be communicated. In particular they explore the differences between the way … Read more…
Here, Durham researcher Arthur Rose explores breath as a theme, metaphor and plot device in Science Fiction. Whether used to convey a sense of anticipation, otherness, or even signify life itself, breath is a common motif in artistic media. Drawing on Fahrenheit 451, Star … Read more…
Our PIs, Jane Macnaughton and Havi Carel have contributed a chapter on breathing and breathlessness to a new book, ‘The Edinburgh Companion to the Critical Medical Humanities’, in which expert contributors from around the world map out the field of the critical … Read more…
How can art (in this case, music) illuminate human experience? Here project collaborator Toby Young contemplates Tippett’s Symphony No. 4 (1977), a ‘birth to death piece’ which features amplified human breath, most notably at the start and end. Can experiencing the piece help us understand what … Read more…
Can e-cigarettes (also called electronic nicotine delivery systems or ENDS) help curb smoking or are they just a smoke screen allowing tobacco companies to keep people addicted to nicotine? And how should global policy makers proceed when uncertainty makes agreement impossible? In … Read more…
Both patients and doctors complain of problems communicating with each other. Senior investigator Havi Carel and Ian Kidd consider the possible roots of this. In particular, they explore why patients are vulnerable to ‘epistemic injustice’ where their voice lacks credibility due to presumed lack of knowledge, … Read more…
Understanding how thoughts and feelings can affect the body is a key strand of our research. Here, team member Corinne Saunders explores how the interaction of mind, body and emotion in both the characters and readers of Chaucer’s romantic works can provide an insight into medieval … Read more…
Throughout 2016 The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal will feature the work of Jayne Wilton, visual artist and Life of Breath project collaborator, on their front cover. Jayne works with a variety of media to capture the breath in 2D and 3D forms. … Read more…
In this essay, senior investigator Havi Carel recounts her experience of being diagnosed with a rare respiratory condition as a starting point for considering how waiting for and receiving a medical diagnosis affects people’s lives. After perhaps a prolonged period … Read more…
In Life of Breath’s first publication, senior investigators, Havi Carel and Jane Macnaughton, and respiratory clinician James Dodd outline the rationale for the project. We have all experienced breathlessness at some point, whether through illness or exertion. Breathlessness is subjective, a very … Read more…